It is sometimes necessary to diagnose and test brake pedal feel and performance. For example, vehicle operators may sense that the brake pedal is providing either too little or too much resistance when operating the brake pedal. Since these conditions can indicate that the brakes are not operating in an optimal manner, it is important to be able to diagnose the condition in order to further be able to repair the system. However, since the degree of “softness” of a brake is subjective in nature, it is necessary to further quantify the “feel” of the brake pedal in order to properly diagnose whether or not the pedal is in fact operating properly.
According to current practices, measuring brake pedal performance requires measuring the linear travel of the brake pedal travel. However, this has proved to be a challenge. One option is to use a string potentiometer which was placed directly in-plane with the face of the brake pedal, just to the side of where the driver applies their foot. This directly measures the travel of the brake pedal linearly, but unfortunately interferes with normal driving as the mounting fixture must be located in the driver's foot well in order to position the string potentiometer directly in front of the brake pedal. Moreover, optical measurement devices are similarly problematic due to the requirement that they also be placed directly in-line with the brake pedal arm or face.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method of measuring the linear travel of the brake pedal travel in such a way that does not interfere with the driver's access to the brake or other pedals or otherwise disturb the operation of the pedal (e.g., maximum travel, foot access to pedal, rate of application, free return of the pedal, etc.) in order to facilitate brake pedal measurements while driving normally. Additionally, there is a need for a system and method of measuring the linear component of the brake pedal travel in a universal manner that is applicable to different vehicle sizes and configurations.